Egypt bombers fled, report says

CAIRO -- The attackers in three explosions on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last week all fled minutes before their vehicles blew up, Egypt's biggest newspaper reported today, contradicting reports that suicide bombers carried out the attacks

None of the four attackers has been apprehended, Al-Ahram reported for today's editions.

It said the truck that struck the Taba Hilton hotel, the deadliest of the coordinated attacks, contained 1,100 pounds of TNT hidden under crates of vegetables.

The bombs used at Ras al Shitan to the south -- one in a Peugeot 504 car and another in a Nissan pickup truck -- both contained a more volatile explosive that is less common in Egypt, Al-Ahram said.

The report in the progovernment newspaper cited a senior official familiar with the findings of interior ministry investigators.

Israeli officials earlier said they believed all three bombings were suicide attacks.

The three explosions killed at least 34 people, including Egyptians, Israelis, two Italians, and a Russian. They happened at the end of a Jewish holiday, when thousands of Israelis were vacationing in the area.

The newspaper said two attackers drove the truck to the Taba Hilton, parked it and fled two minutes before it exploded. The driver of the Peugeot entered a parking lot outside a camp of bungalows and fled on foot three minutes before it detonated, it said.